2017 Imperial Gran Reserva
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Tasting notes
Frosts swept across much of Europe in late April in 2017, although the rest of the season was relatively warm, producing a tiny crop of concentrated fruit. It’s a drastically different wine to the 2018, yet still with great freshness and a floral lift alongside ripe, sweet red fruit. The palate is tight, much less approachable than the 2018, with compact tannins, a bite of crunchy acidity and a grip of firm tannins, while smoky tones that fill the finish. Decant to enjoy now, but this will be even better with a couple more years in bottle. Fermented in oak, 14% alcohol and bottled July 2020.
Critic scores
Average Score
Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
2017 was a bad frost year – 28 April in particular, it decimated production. Much maligned as a hot year (mild winter, hot summer), but CEO Victor Urrutia says that it was a long growing season and in his experience a long growing season is good. Even disregarding that this is a vintage with a difficult reputation, this is a beautiful wine. Terracotta dust on the nose. And jasmine. Heady and dusty like a hot still day in summer. Orange blossom and orange peel, kumquat, citrus-pith bitterness and a bit of black olive but lots of dark-red tannic sweetness in the mid palate. Tannins like heavy tapestry: complex, tightly woven, dense but lustrous with beauty. Robust but pulsing with openness and warmth. So already welcoming that I would want to buy two cases, to drink a bottle every year from now until my dotage. (TC)
A small step up over the Vina Real Gran Reserva Especial, with slightly more breadth and richness (but maybe not the precision), the 2017 Imperial Gran Reserva is based on 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, and the rest Mazuelo that spent two years in oak, with just under 5,000 cases produced. Its deep plum/purple hue is followed by a brilliant array of ripe black cherries, cassis, iron, candied violets, and vanilla oak. This carries to a medium to full-bodied Rioja with the juicy, lively, fresher acidity of the vintage, plenty of ripeness, and finely polished tannins, while more Bordeaux-like smoky tobacco and lead pencil notes develop with air. This beauty deserves another 3-4 years in the cellar and will evolve for at least two decades.
I tasted two vintages of the Gran Reserva from Haro, starting with the 2017 Imperial Gran Reserva from a warm and dry year whose yields were lowered by frost in late April and was saved by rains at the end of July. It's 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.65 and 5.31 grams of acidity. It fermented in small oak vats followed by malolactic in concrete and aging in French (70%) and American oak barrels for two years, during which time the wine was racked every eight months. It's evolving at a slightly faster pace and maybe it's a little lighter, but I didn't feel the heat, which is quite something. It's drinking well. 75,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2020.
About the producer
CVNE, or Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España (the Northern Spanish Wine Company), is one of Rioja’s leading names. With its various brands – Cune, Viña Real, Contino and Imperial – CVNE produces both large volumes and high quality, with its Imperial Gran Reserva one of the region’s finest wines.